


Public Relations

by Pollydoodles



Series: The Wider Pizza-Verse [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 05:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5955421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollydoodles/pseuds/Pollydoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What did you just say?”</p><p>Steve’s voice rumbled out of him, low and angry. His fists were clenched at his sides and he fought to keep in one spot. A small part of his more primal self itched to reach for his shield, to send it spinning sharply and with razor-sharp precision, to express his rage that way. Steve managed to swallow that down. For the moment. </p><p>Stark sighed dramatically before responding. “Look, it’s not hard to understand, Cap. This is a PR exercise, and the one thing that we really don’t need is for Popsicle 2: Return of the Killer Popsicle to freak out and maim the journalists. Capiche?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Public Relations

“What did you just say?”

Steve’s voice rumbled out of him, low and angry. His fists were clenched at his sides and he fought to keep in one spot. A small part of his more primal self itched to reach for his shield, to send it spinning sharply and with razor-sharp precision, to express his rage that way. Steve managed to swallow that down. For the moment. 

Stark sighed dramatically before responding. “Look, it’s not hard to understand, Cap. This is a PR exercise, and the one thing that we really don’t need is for Popsicle 2: Return of the Killer Popsicle to freak out and maim the journalists. Capiche?”

The entire room inhaled and held its breath, several pairs of eyes sliding from Stark back towards Steve, whose own icy blue eyes narrowed as he regarded the other man. His fingers twitched inside his closed fists. 

“Actually-“ Pepper’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker, irritation clearly present in her tone. “What Tony intended – and was instructed – to say, was that we feel this could be a stressful situation for Sergeant Barnes and that it would probably be better for him if he were not in the vicinity when it occurs, should it cause him undue and unnecessary anxiety.”

“That’s what I said.” Stark retaliated, arms held wide in a semi-shrug, and earned himself an exasperated tut from the disembodied voice of Pepper who, despite being unable to see him, could almost certainly imagine exactly what he was doing. 

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but was beaten to the quick by Darcy. “Tony, what the hell.” She said, indignation colouring her voice as she stepped up towards him, a hot flush creeping up her neck as she spoke. “The Dursleys aren’t role models, and you can’t lock Bucky away in a cupboard and pretend he doesn’t exist when it suits you!” 

Her voice rose as she spoke, and she punctuated the last few words by jabbing her index finger into his chest as she spoke, glaring at him with fire in her eyes.

“Why are you even arguing this?” Tony exploded. “You can’t possibly think he’d enjoy it. There’s gonna be journalists crawling all over the place –Jesus – at best it’ll be boring as hell and at worst they’ll dig up every dirty secret even your own mother has forgotten and splash them all over the internet for the world to snigger at over their morning coffee.” 

“That’s not the point,” Steve began heatedly, and was cut off again by Darcy who rounded on Tony again. 

“The point is – he’s family. You don’t hide your family away like you’re ashamed of them.” The petite brunette stepped back, shaking her head at Stark and, despite his steadily rising anger, Steve could feel the beginnings of a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth watching her. He had a sneaking suspicion that this might have been how Bucky had felt back in the day, watching Steve square up to people easily a foot taller and considerably wider than himself. 

“I swear to god, Lewis, if the next words out of your mouth include ohana, I’m cutting your Disney channel access. “ Tony threatened. “This isn’t a Lifetime movie, we are genuinely trying to get the public on our side.”

“And Bucky can’t do that?” She threw the question back at him, the words snapping out of her lips like a whipcrack in the hushed quiet of the boardroom. 

“What do you expect me to say?” Tony shook his hands at her in frustration. “Obviously not. The man is responsible for assassinating multiple influential people over the last fifty years, some of whom are generally regarded as American heroes, and even if he wasn’t he’s barely monosyllabic at the best of times.” He paused, gaze sliding over Darcy’s red cheeks and pursed lips before continuing. “Oh, silly me – what perfect public relations material.” 

“You’re an ass.” 

This came not from Steve, not even from Darcy, but from Sam. 

Tony spun on his heel to face the soldier. “Oh look, Cap-in-Training wants to weigh in with the adults.” Darcy tried and epically failed to stop a fleeting look of pleasure flit across her face at being included as an adult. Stark, noticing, threw her a raised eyebrow and a smirk, and she schooled her features back into a scowl. 

“Tony.” 

The loudspeaker crackled on the single word, but no one in the room was left in any doubt as to the barely-veiled subtext laced through Pepper’s speech. Tony had the good grace to look vaguely chastised. Sam merely raised an eyebrow, all too used to Stark’s biting comments. 

“I’m only going to say this once. Tony, sit down and zip it.” 

Pepper’s voice was authoritative and brooked no argument. Tony pulled a face, but threw himself into the nearest chair regardless, making an exaggerated gesture of locking his lips and discarding the key over his shoulder. Steve fixed him with an unyielding stare, but Stark either didn’t notice or didn’t care. 

“Captain Rogers – Steve –“ Pepper continued. “It is my honest opinion that being involved in this would be detrimental to Sergeant Barnes. I give you my word that there is only concern for his well-being.” 

Steve exhaled hard. It was a struggle, getting them to see Bucky as he did. He wasn’t naïve, no matter what his public image painted him as. He knew that Bucky was not the man he’d been before the war, and that it was most likely he would never be that man again. That was okay. Steve himself was hardly the same person he’d been once, so he had no right to expect it of anyone else, let alone Bucky who’d suffered through so much. 

But still. Bucky was a person. Was part of the team, if unofficially. The idea of hiding him away like some kind of dirty laundry grated at Steve, like he was denying Bucky to the world. Exactly as if he were denying Bucky to the world. How could that possibly be considered being a friend?

“It’s not right.” Darcy muttered sullenly, and Steve threw her a grateful look. 

Tony, unable to keep quiet any longer, spun in his chair to face the subject of the argument. Bucky sat at the end of the table, next to Natasha who was studiously keeping out of the whole affair. The dark-haired soldier showed no sign that he’d even registered the conversation, and in fact was chowing down on a large bowl of cornflakes. 

Barton’s dog sat at his right knee, chin resting against Bucky’s leg. gazing up at the man adoringly, Or possibly at the cornflakes. Probably at the cornflakes. The dog did belong to Barton, after all. Probably the most surprising thing was that Barton wasn’t sat at his left knee, eyeing up the breakfast cereal. 

“Elsa? What’s your take?”

Bucky, either not getting the reference and misunderstanding the question was aimed at him, or simply choosing to ignore the other man, did not respond. He continued to shovel cornflakes into his mouth. The dog whined and placed a paw on Bucky’s thigh. The man’s free hand found its way to the labrador’s head and ruffled his ears gently. 

Tony spun back to face Darcy and Steve, his hands curling into finger guns pointed straight at the pair of them. “I think the point has been illustrated.” 

Darcy let out a heavy sigh and turned to face the captain, fixing him with wide puppy-dog eyes. “Steve…” She implored, catching her bottom lip between her teeth and worrying at it as she gazed up at him. 

Steve set his jaw and faced Stark down. “Bucky’s included. End of discussion.” 

Stark opened his mouth but before he could respond, Pepper’s clipped tones cut across him from the phone. “Okay, Captain. It’s your decision, and your responsibility.”

“And mine.” Darcy said defiantly, and Steve let out a breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding. 

Stark rolled his eyes. “Tears before bedtime, you mark my words.”

“Says the guy who invented a murder-bot.” Natasha said quietly, but loudly enough for Steve to catch it and smile. The Widow might keep her cards close to her chest, but when the chips were down he knew he could count on her support. 

Three hours later, and Steve was starting to consider that his insistence that Bucky be included might have been a touch hasty. His friend sat slumped beside him, and the journalist sat nervously in front of them was trying and failing to get a response. 

The young man slid his gaze over to Steve and he could see the throw me a bone, here vibes as though they were written in indelible marker across his face. 

“So, is it true that Sergeant Barnes was part of the original Howling Commandos?” The kid – he really must have been still in school, surely they didn’t let them out in the real world that young – consulted some printed pages. Steve sighed to himself. It seemed Stark’s prediction might be coming true; that this would be the most boring day possible. 

The kid flipped his eyes nervously between Steve, looking blank as his mind drifted elsewhere, and Bucky, who wasn’t responding but whose body language was much more intense. He was leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, saying nothing but eyes running up and down the kid as though he were scoping him for danger points. 

He clutched his notebook to him and drew his knees closer together. 

“Yeah, he was a Commando.” Darcy appeared and flopped herself down at Bucky’s feet and gave the kid a million dollar smile as she did so. “What else do you need to know?”

The journo looked intensely grateful. “I just have a few- a few more questions?” He said hesitantly, gaze switching between the twin bulks of Steve and Bucky, neither of whom appeared relaxed. Bucky had produced a knife from somewhere and was staring directly at the kid whilst absently-mindedly flipping the blade from hand to hand. 

“Fire away.” Darcy grinned, and rubbed her palm in small circles over Bucky’s left knee. He pushed his knee further towards her as she continued to massage it lightly, and a miniscule amount of tension melted from his shoulders as she continued to touch him. 

Somehow, with Darcy’s guidance and a not in-considerable amount of luck, they pulled Bucky through three interviews and an impromptu photo-call. The final journo had been so taken with Bucky and his stoic nature that she’d insisted on snapping a few photos. She’d left promising them that Bucky would be the next month’s cover model, but neither Darcy nor Steve believed that Pepper would allow that to happen. 

“Fifty.” Barton murmured as he stood next to Steve, watching as the final journalist was waved from the building. 

“Sorry?” The captain dropped his head to one side and regarded the archer. 

“Fifty whole bucks.” Even with more words, it wasn’t making sense to Steve. 

“Barton, I-“ 

“I owe Natasha fifty whole American dollars.” The other man said dejectedly. “Because Barnes made it the whole day without flipping out and skewering one of ‘em to the coffee table with an HB pencil.”

Steve considered giving an impromptu lecture about gambling and how he didn’t appreciate the team making bets on his best friend, but opted against it. It wouldn’t do any good. 

“Fifty? You caved too easily.” Darcy appeared at Steve’s elbow, although she was addressing Barton. “I held out for a cool five hundred from Stark.” 

“You did what?” Steve turned to her, an incredulous look in his eyes. 

“Oh, calm yourself, Cap,” She rolled her eyes. “I knew Buck would be fine. This way, he gets five hundred smackers to do with as he pleases.” She paused. “I know I’m just gonna end up driving him to the pet store to get a ridiculous amount of Bonio for Lucky, but it’s his choice.”

Steve swallowed down the anger that had threatened to overtake him, and smothered it with the warm feeling that had spread from his boots upwards upon hearing that Darcy had played Stark; that she was happy to let Bucky get whatever he wanted with it, even if everyone else thought it was stupid. 

“You’re one of a kind, Darce.” He said, heavily and without even thinking. 

The girl started, and looked up at him with surprise in her eyes, before tamping it back down almost simultaneously. “Yeah, Cap, that’s right. Darcy is a special kind of gal.” She threw him an over-exaggerated wink and he couldn’t help but grin at her. 

“Special.” Bucky appeared behind Darcy, his voice quiet. The girl turned to face him, smile wide and genuine. Bucky looked down at her, and his metal arm reached out of its own accord to trace the curve that her lips had made whilst looking at him. 

Darcy caught it as it swept across her cheek, and pulled it closer to her. “C’mon, Buck, we’ve got a date with the TV.” The soldier followed her obediently as she lead the way back to the common room. 

“D’you think-“ Barton began.

“No.” Steve said firmly. 

“But-“

“You’re not starting a pool on them dating.”


End file.
